Private developers are not exclusively to blame for the construction waste crisis, Sandro Chetcuti said, noting the multiple road projects undertaken by the government.

The president of the Malta Developers Association said the progress propelled by the government also included social housing projects and a multitude of roadworks.

Chetcuti was speaking to MaltaToday after the MDA met with Prime Minister Joseph Muscat at Auberge de Castille on Wednesday.

The sector is facing a waste emergency as a result of a limited number of quarries that are receiving construction debris. The situation has led to dumping prices shooting up twice over a matter of months.

There are around 30 quarries licenced to receive construction waste but only two are effectively doing so.

The others either belong to big construction companies that are using them to dump waste generated by their own projects, or cannot be used because stone is still being extracted from them.

Government has warned it will use the powers it has at law to requisition quarry space unless the sector regulates itself. Muscat repeated that warning during the meeting this morning.

Chetcuti said many quarries had been filled with construction waste as a result of the development underway in the country.

“The government has apparently found a solution… One of them is the use of quarries that belong to the government, while the possibility of land reclamation is also being considered,” Chetcuti said.

Chetcuti said the government was also considering the use of an offshore spot were dumping could take place. The MDA president mentioned Hurd’s Bank as the offshore spot, ostensibly referring to the location off the Valletta coastline that is close to Hurd’s Bank and which has long been used as a spoil ground for construction waste dumping.

David Hudson is an IGM press awards (Investigative stories) winner of 2019